Moose is Loose receive:
BJ Upton, Angel Pagan, Jeff Francoeur, Alfonso Soriano, 3rd round pick
Urban Achievers receive:
Shin-Soo Choo, Justin Morneau, Alex Presley, Eric Thames, 1st round pick
This is one of those trades that should make everyone think twice about lamenting the “dump trades” that occur before the trade deadline. Really, they’re a great thing. They create opportunities for the downtrodden to look forward to next year, while allowing the competitors a chance to enhance their team in exchange for theoretical long-term losses. Without them, we’d see much less trades. And nothing is more exciting and potentially more impactful than a good trade. It hurts for teams that think they could’ve offered better, but hopefully inspires them to be proactive in the future. Allowing the exchange of draft picks has expanded every team’s ability to upgrade their team. While I was initially against it, I’m warming up to it as the season goes on. Sure, some trades have resulted in some imbalanced exchanges of 2012 picks, but it has further expanded the freedom each owner has to manage their team. On a side note, not requiring people to start two RP was also a good move and has also provided the opportunity for owners to be strategic—perhaps to their own detriment, but that’s the beauty of it all. If you wanted to, trading your first five picks next year could address many of the holes on your team, but do you sacrifice next year’s roster for the chance at glory next year? Are you that confident in your assessment of players that you think your 2012 team would be just fine regardless? All questions you have to consider and could send you in a wide range of directions and, ultimately, it separates the men from the boys.
I digress. For Moose, I applaud the reigning champ for his sticktoitiveness and willingness to go for it this year despite the serious challenges his roster has faced. No one has had more bad luck with top players. Choo is much better than he has performed and Morneau is a perennial top fantasy 1B. While Choo may return to form this year, he’s injured and Brian isn’t in a position to sit back and wait for him. Meanwhile, it’s pretty clear Morneau won’t be the masher of old this year. You team that with Greinke’s stupid basketball injury and subsequent underperformance and Uggla’s issues with his new surroundings, it’s been a shit show from the beginning. Now, his bullpen, which was once a strength, lost K-Rod to trade and Putz to injury. Ouch. Safe to say a repeat will be tough, but if he can make it to the playoffs, he still has a chance. Starting guys like Presley and Thames, you have no chance. What I like about the trade from Brian’s end is that he took a hit on the keeper end, but BJ Upton is more than solid as a keeper. And, sure, it hurts to lose a first rounder, but he’s only downgrading a couple rounds. And one could argue, teams found more success in the 3rd round this year than the 1st. Meanwhile, Pagan has the potential for a big second half and Frenchy and Soriano are significant upgrades to the Presley/Pierre/Thames/Melky/Hunter combo. Not to mention, Brian acquired 55 steals—a category that has been a problem for him this year. More challenges await, but he addressed his biggest area of need.
On Urban’s end, Morneau is expected to recover and Choo almost certainly will return to some semblance of the form that made him one of the top all around contributors in the league last year. Upton is a tough loss, but he’s also tough to rely on and can be very streaky. BJ probably has the most high end potential, but I think it is smart for Dan to build up a solid core in preparation for next year. There’s still work to be done, but CC, CYoung, Morneau and Choo are a nice start and the upgrade to a first rounder was a good move, though I think it probably could’ve been a more substantial upgrade. I’m a little surprised we haven’t seen more action on this front from Urban, especially considering Casten offered me a handjob for my 11th rounder. But Dan still got pieces to sell off with KJohnson, Jeter, Hafner, Napoli, CLee, Liriano, Vargas, Gallardo, FGarcia, and Tomlin all falling in the above-waiver-wire-material-and-useful-but-not-quite-keeper category.
All in all, again, nice work guys. Trade works for all parties.
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